The prompt
Score 10 of 10, Excellent
Use it when You need a nonprofit appeal letter or email that tells one true story and makes a clear ask.
- {{organization}}
- {{mission}}
- {{audience}}
- {{format}}
- {{signer}}
- {{ask}}
- {{why_now}}
- {{story}}
Full prompt and why it works
Prompt
Background: Organization: {{organization}} What we do and for whom: {{mission}} Who receives this appeal: {{audience}} Format (email or printed letter): {{format}} Signed by: {{signer}} The ask (amounts, and what each amount really pays for, if we know): {{ask}} Why now (a match, a deadline, a specific need), or "none": {{why_now}} The story (one true story, and what the person agreed we may share): """ {{story}} """ Task: Write a fundraising appeal for the donors described above that tells this one story and makes a clear ask. Requirements: - Open with a specific moment from the story, not with our organization or a statistic. - Tell one story about one person or situation. Show what changed, and make the reader's gift the reason it could change: write more "you" than "we". - Make the ask early, within the first third, and repeat it at the end and in a P.S. Name a specific amount. - Tie amounts to outcomes only where the ask above says what they pay for. Otherwise describe the outcome without a price tag. - If the readers are past donors, thank them for what their earlier gifts did before asking again. - Length: an email of 200 to 300 words, or a letter of 400 to 600 words. Treat the person in the story with dignity. Use only the details they agreed to share, change their name if the story notes say so, and never invent quotes, details or feelings. Do not use guilt, exaggeration, statistics I have not given, or a deadline or match that is not real. Do not add tax or legal wording; we add our standard statement ourselves. The appeal should read like a letter from a person who knows the reader: warm, direct and specific. Example of an opening, for form only: "On her first morning at [program], [name] asked if she could take the leftover bread home for her brother." If the story notes do not say what the person agreed to share, or anything is missing for the ask, stop and ask me before writing.
Variables
- {{organization}}
- Your organization's name.
- {{mission}}
- What you do and for whom, in a sentence.
- {{audience}}
- Who receives it, for example "donors who gave last year but not this year".
- {{format}}
- Email or printed letter.
- {{signer}}
- Who signs it, with their title.
- {{ask}}
- The amount or amounts to ask for, and what each really pays for if you know, for example "$50 pays for [what], based on our program costs".
- {{why_now}}
- A real reason to give now, such as a matching gift with its end date, or "none".
- {{story}}
- One true story with the details, and what the person agreed you may share, including whether to change their name.
Why it works
- What to avoid. Only details the person agreed to share, no invented quotes, no guilt and no fake deadlines: this keeps the appeal honest and the person in the story respected.
- What good looks like. The ask comes early, names an amount and is repeated in the P.S., so no reader finishes unsure what you are asking for.
- If unsure. If consent or the ask is unclear, it stops and asks before writing, rather than guessing about a real person's story.